Hopworks is a Certified B Corporation

In February, 2015, our company received certification as a B Corporation. This prestigious designation is awarded to companies using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. The certification is like Fair Trade certification but for the whole business.

By becoming certified, we formally and legally agree to consider our impact not only financially but also on our workers, suppliers, community, consumers, and the environment, collectively referred to as the triple bottom line. The certification makes Hopworks the first B Corporation brewery in the Pacific Northwest and the seventh in the world. We are the 47th certified B Corporation in the state of Oregon. There are over 1,000 Certified B Corporations from more than 60 industries in 34 countries.

At Hopworks, our mission is to revolutionize and inspire the brewing industry with practices that drive quality, protect the environment and improve our community. Our conscientious practices include the use of USDA Certified Organic and Salmon-Safe Certified ingredients in beer, donating 1% of Powell brewpub pint sales to local nonprofits, providing organic and locally-sourced pub fare, and the company’s zero waste initiative.

One of our major iniatives is to model environmental stewardship by reducing water consumption in the production of beer while expanding capacity and distribution. The brewery recently installed a Cleaning In Place system, which allows the brewery to conserve five times the amount of water when cleaning fermentation tanks while also saving energy and cleaner. Hopworks uses 3.39 gallons of water per gallon of beer produced, compared to an industry average of 7 to 1. Hopworks maintains water neutral operations through the purchase of credits through Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

“It is an incredible honor to become a certified B Corporation and to sit amongst the companies that we have admired for so long. Hopworks has always believed in the direct relationship between business and environmental health and it is great to have a framework to study our progress” says Hopworks brewmaster and founder Christian Ettinger. “B Lab’s application process provided an incredibly eye-opening and dynamic analysis of our efforts to date. We are proud of what we have been able to achieve in eight short years and look forward to tackling the more challenging points in the months to come. This process has really improved our focus and excited our team.”